Beating Hearts
by ExLibris3
Summary: An agent goes missing, and the rest of the team struggle to find out what has happened to him. A secret relationship is uncovered and a life is at risk...
1. Chapter 1

Caitlin Todd sat at her desk in the squad room. Once again she glanced at the desk next to hers, it was still empty and it was a bit after 8am, it was not like him to be late. She put down the pen she was holding and picked up her cell phone instead. She used the speed-dial function to call his cell, but she just reached voice mail. Frustrated she slammed it back down onto her desk, causing the agent sitting opposite her to glance up from his computer.

"What's wrong with you?" Tony DiNozzo asked curiously, as he secretly had watched her all morning; he knew she had been in an unusually bad mood. Kate looked up at him; she almost appeared to be surprised to see he was there.

"Nothing's wrong with me!" she snapped at him and Tony raised his eyebrows. Kate sighed and glanced down at the floor before gazing up at him again.

"Fine, I'm worried about Gibbs, Tony" she confessed as Timothy McGee entered the bull pen, walking between their desks to get to his own, but before he sat down, he placed a cup of fresh coffee on Gibbs' empty desk.

"Just wasted your money there, probie; the boss is not here" Tony greeted him and McGee glanced at his partner.

"Well, where is he?" he asked as he took a sip from his own cup. Tony held up his hands in the classic how-should-I-know gesture.

"That's what we're trying to find out, McGee" Kate answered and leaned back in her chair.

"He's probably just late" he replied simply

"McGee," Tony said calmly, but with a hint of underlying annoyance "when was the last time Gibbs was _late?"_

McGee sat in silence and appeared to be trying to remember a time when Gibbs had been late. He opened his mouth as to speak, but closed it again when he couldn't think of anything to say.

"That's right, Elf-lord. Gibbs is _never _late" Tony stated and McGee found he had to agree with that.

"Well, whatever's holding him, I bet it's something important" McGee shot back and drank from his coffee again.

"Probably the mysterious red-head that keeps picking him up every now and then" Tony chuckled "I mean that's gotta be his girlfriend, right?"

Kate looked very disturbed at Tony's words; she narrowed her eyes at him and felt her cheeks blush. She knew he was not with the red-head. She just had an odd feeling something was wrong, it was like her gut was trying to tell her something.

"Have you tried calling him?" McGee suggested and Tony hit himself gently on the forehead.

"Jeez, why didn't I think of that? Of course we've called him!" he burst out, and then he looked at Kate sceptically "You have called him, right, Kate?" he added calmly, pulling her from her thoughts.

"What? Oh, yes, I have called, he didn't answer" she sounded a bit distracted. She noticed Tony was eyeing her suspiciously, and as she couldn't stand to meet his eyes, she started to massage her shoulder to keep herself preoccupied with something.

"I could do a GPS search" McGee offered and was already typing furiously when Tony agreed to the suggestion. "Let's see…" McGee muttered to himself as he worked.

"Well," he said a minute later and frowned at his computer screen, as if it the result was not like he had expected.

"What is it?" Tony wondered, a hint of worry hiding in his voice.

"It's turned off at the moment" McGee said defeated and sighed, but then his face lit up again "But I could check where it was last on"

He went back to typing as Tony glanced at Kate again. She was still massaging her shoulder with calm but hard strokes, but her face was oddly pale and her eyes were dim.

"It was last on at his house at 05.26 this morning" McGee's voice made Tony take his eyes off Kate "Then he must have turned it off"

"Why would Gibbs turn off his cell?" Tony frowned as he shot the question at McGee, who shrugged.

"How should I know? Battery could have died…" he suggested but the suggestion was met with a snort from Tony. "Well, I'm sorry DiNozzo, but I don't know what else to say!" Kate glanced up at McGee as he apparently lost his temper.

Tony stared at him in surprise; he had never seen McGee loose control like this before. "Probie, what the hell is going on with you?"

McGee sighed and shook his head. "Never mind, I just… I don't know where he is ok?"

"Fine" Tony mumbled and turned back to Kate, who had stopped massaging herself and now simply had her hand still resting on her shoulder.

"Maybe, you know, maybe we're worrying for nothing. I mean, this is Gibbs we're talking about, he'll probably show up when we least expects it" Tony said softly to her and then looked up toward the elevators, half-expecting to see Gibbs coming out, being in his usual bad mood and complaining about traffic or something. "He's probably just stuck in traffic" he told them.

Kate thought about it for a second. Yes, that was likely; morning traffic in DC was always a nightmare. She could picture Gibbs sitting in his car at that very moment, cursing under his breath as he was stuck in the middle of the highway on his way to work. She leaned forward and stretched her arms a little.

"I guess you're right Tony. He's stuck in traffic and will be in a little later than usual" she said and Tony smiled when she said he was right, it was a rare thing to hear from her. But as Tony went back to work, Kate couldn't help but to think she had said that to assure herself rather than Tony. She still had a strange feeling inside of her; a feeling at something was not right with this whole situation. Reluctantly she followed Tony's example and turned back to her computer, though she kept looking up every two minutes, still hoping to see Gibbs walk past her desk being in a grumpy mood.

It was a few hours after lunch, and the coffee on Gibbs' desk stood still untouched, ice-cold by now…

_What has happened to Gibbs? Are Kate's feelings that something's terribly wrong with him very much true? _

_Hope the chapter was ok and I will update as soon as I can. Please review and let me know what you think, ok? Thanks for reading!_

_Take care,_

_Emma_


	2. Chapter 2

It was a dark and painful world. When he tried to open his eyes his vision was blurry and blocked by black spots. He shut his eyes again; it had made him feel sick. He must have been knocked out, but he couldn't remember what had happened. His head was pounding, the pain was excruciating all over his body. He was only awake for a couple of seconds before he passed out again.

Kate was pacing furiously back and forth in front if Tony's desk. It had been hours now, and Gibbs still hadn't showed up. Tony slouched back in his chair, watching her as she walked up to Gibbs' desk, turned around, and walked in the opposite direction. But his time she did not turn around again, but continued to walk toward the windows. For a second Tony thought she'd forgotten there stood a wall there, but then she suddenly came to a halt.

Kate placed her hand against the cold glass, and thought about Gibbs. Her mind was spinning, her heart was pounding, and her gut screamed there was something wrong with him. She heard Tony's voice calling her name from behind, but she ignored him; she wasn't in the mood to hear some of his stupid comments, not when it came to Gibbs.

"Kate!" Tony's called again, and it became obvious to Kate that he was not going to stop until he caught her attention, and she was not open to stand here and listen to his calling interrupt her thoughts all afternoon. She turned around and saw Tony was now standing up at his desk, obviously on his way to walk over to her.

"What?" she burst out, sounding angrier than she had intended, or maybe sadder, she couldn't tell what feelings hid in her voice, but judging by the look on his face, Tony had been able to distinguish a feeling or two. He frowned at her and his eyes expressed great concern.

"I – I was just wondering – are you ok?" the tone in her voice had thrown him off his real question.

"Yes – yes I'm fine" she snapped at him, turning back toward the window, resting her forehead against the glass as she suddenly felt hot tears run down her cheek. Damn, she couldn't be crying! Not now, not here. It wasn't right. She didn't know for sure he was in trouble, he could be - … But she couldn't find any other explanation to his sudden absence.

The ding of the elevator made her look up, and for a brief second she hoped it would be Gibbs who escaped from it, but her heart sank in her chest as she saw McGee and a tearfull Abby rush out.

"Damn it" she mumbled to herself and used the back of her hand to wipe her own tears away. As she turned back toward the elevators, she was startled by Abby, who stood much closer than she had expected. Abby's tear streamed face glanced at her for a second before McGee ushered her toward his desk. But Abby refused to sit down; instead she paced back and forth between the desks, just like Kate been just minutes ago.

"What do you mean 'Gibbs is gone'? Gibbs can't be gone! He – he's probably just late or - "she trailed off and Tony interrupted.

"Abs, it's 3pm, he should have been in at 8am. I'd say

At this, Abby came to an abrupt halt in front of Tony's desk. She stared at him in disbelief, then she suddenly called out loud "Hinky? This is beyond hinky! This is – this is…a disaster! Gibbs has been gone for seven hours and you haven't done anything! Why aren't you out looking for him?" Abby's voice softened down as she reached her last sentence, then she burst into tears. Tony and McGee stared at each other in horror as neither of the men knew what to do in this situation. But fortunately for them, Kate had moved from her position by the window and was now approaching Abby to embrace her.

"It – it's not like him to – to dis-disappear like this" Abby said through her sobs.

"I know, Abby" Kate didn't know what else to say, but in fact, she had been thinking exactly what Abby had said; why hadn't they done something? It was obvious that he was not just stuck in traffic, but what had really happened, and how where they supposed to find out where he was?

"You're right Abs" Tony said with a sigh. Kate looked over Abby's shoulder and saw that Tony had buried his face in his hands, muffling his voice a bit. He withdrew his hands and sat up straight again, looking more determined than ever. "You're right, Abs" he repeated "We should have done something, we should have realized he was not just late…" his voice trailed off and McGee cut in.

"So, where do we start?" he asked in a shaking voice as he stood leaning against his own desk. Tony jumped to his feet, as he was the senior field agent, in Gibbs' absence he was now the leader.

"We start…" Tony began, but interrupted himself s he carefully thought through what needed to be done. "I remember him leaving at eight last night, right?" Kate nodded, encouraging Tony to continue, "So, knowing Gibbs, he would probably have gone home after that, down to his basement to work on the boat" he went on, Kate neither nodded nor shook her head. She knew Gibbs had gone home, but he had not spent the night in his basement…

Kate awkwardly let go of Abby and turned to sit down on her desk, she didn't care to walk around to the chair. Abby walked off and took her seat in Gibbs' chair and turned on his computer.

"Just checking to see if there are any threatening e-mails on his computer" she explained and Tony nodded, looking impressed, but Kate's scream of horror made him abruptly turn his head toward her.

"No, Abby!" she shouted, and Abby looked just as shocked as Tony and McGee.

"Wh – what are you talking about?" she blurted out in confusion, her fingertips hovered over the keys, only one click away from opening Gibbs' e-mail account.

"Kate, what's the matter with you? You've been acting strange all day" Tony demanded, as he walked up in front of her. Their eyes met in a silent challenge, Kate was the first one to look away, pushing her way past Tony, and she walked up behind Abby, leaning against the back of the chair.

"Abs, I can go through his e-mail" Kate offered as Abby turned around to face her. She was frowning.

"But, I can do computer traces…" Abby began.

"Yeah, I know. But I want to go through it first, if I find something I let you know" Kate's voice was so stern that Abby didn't dare to question her, but reluctantly rose from Gibbs chair to let Kate sit down instead. Kate happily took her place in front of Gibbs' computer. Now she just needed to be left alone…

"Abby, why don't you and McGee go through Gibbs' phone records?" she suggested and Abby's face lit up, glad there was something she could do to help find her precious Gibbs.

"Sure. Come on, Timmy" she said and gripped McGee's wrist and started to drag him with her toward the elevators.

"Wait!" came Tony's voice from behind, causing them to stop and turn around. Kate had also looked up, becoming slightly worried about Tony messing everything up for her.

"What, it's not a good idea?" McGee questioned as he and Abby returned to Tony's desk-

"No, it's a great idea, but Abby will have to do it by herself. I need you to come with me, we're checking out Gibbs' house. If he's been abducted there should be signs of struggle or something" Tony said in his most commanding tone of voice, causing Kate to give up a little scream again.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" Tony began to lose his patience with her, her weird behaviour started to get on his nerves.

"I – I want to go with you, to Gibbs' place" she stuttered, she had to quickly decide what was the most important, going through Gibbs' e-mails, or going to his house, even though she was afraid of what might be there, it was more important than looking through his e-mails.

"No, you're supposed to check his e-mails!" Tony was going insane. It was not like her to be like this. She usually did as told, at least as Gibbs told.

"Well," she said and let her eyes sweep over the screen "These don't appear to be very threatening. I can go through them more accurate later." She assured him and added "Please, Tony. It's practically useless for me to sit here and go through hundreds of e-mails. McGee can help out Abby, and I'll come with you"

Tony glared at her, then he gave in "Fine" he said, sounding awfully bitter. "Probie! Help Abs with the phone records, then go through Gibbs' e-mail"

"But…" Kate began to protest, but another glare from Tony silenced her, obviously she couldn't get everything she wanted.

"Come on, Kate!" he barked and took off toward the elevators. Kate jumped up from Tony's chair, ran to her desk to get her gun before she hurried off to the elevator Tony was holding open for her.

They drove in silence, Tony was driving and Kate looked out through the window, thinking about Gibbs. She tried to think of something that could have happened to him. Kidnapping was most likely, but there had been no obvious threats toward him recently, not that she knew of at least. Murder was out of the question, at least that's how she chose to think. He couldn't be dead, he simply couldn't. She decided to stick to the fact that he had been abducted by some psycho he had taken in long ago that was now released from jail and was looking for revenge.

Tony pulled up outside Gibbs' house. They both glanced at each other as they noticed his car was not in the drive way. Tony and Kate hurried out of the car, and fortunately for them, Gibbs never locked his front door. As they stepped in, they entered a house where the smell of coffee and sawdust filled every corner. The sunlight shining through the windows provided them with enough light that they could even make out the details on the dark wooden floor in the foyer.

"No sign of struggle here" Tony observed and looked into the kitchen. "Ok, I check the basement and the ground floor, while you check out the second floor" Tony instructed and Kate was more than happy. As he made his way downstairs, she hurried up the staircase and rushed into his bedroom.

Kate looked around in the room, everything looked like she had left it; bed unmade, clothes scattered all over the room, two empty coffee cups on the bedside table. She bent down and picked up her own bra off the floor, her gaze travelled across the floor and she found the shirt and skirt she had worn yesterday. She knew it would have been to risky letting Tony go in here, he would have recognized the clothing as hers immediately, and then hers and Gibbs' secret would be out. She walked over to a chair standing against the wall and picked up the shirt lying on top of it. It was large, and man's shirt. Kate closed her eyes and smelled the shirt; it had his scent all over it.

'_Gibbs, where are you?_' she thought to herself and as she let her eyes sweep over the room, the memories of last night returned to her, and the tears began to run down her cheeks out of concern for Gibbs. _'Gibbs, wherever you are, know that I love you. And I promise I will find you!'_

Thanks for the reviews of the first chapter! And thanks to everyone who is reading it. Please review and I will update as soon as I can!

Emma


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